Sheets of Darkness
by Katrina Snape
Summary: People don't die....until they're forgotten. This fic is dedicated to Cece, a wonderful person who was tragically hit by a car and died.


Sheets of Darkness

Harry turned over in his sleep. He had seen her. He had seen his daughter. But still something didn't feel so right. It should feel right, shouldn't it? Why was this feeling haunting him, why wouldn't it go away? What did it mean? He wanted to take Katrina in his arms and kiss her as he had done before. He wanted to whisper sweet nothings in her ear and wrap his arms around her slender waist. He loved her, yet he hated her, yet he loved her in a way he had never loved anyone before. His heart gave a twang as he pined for her. Longed for her. Wanted her.

Katrina held Lily and rocked her back to sleep. The baby ceased her wails and settled down to the soft movements of Katrina's rocks. 'How does she do it' thought Sirius, as he watched her. 'How does she cope with an adult's trauma at seventeen?' Lily drifted off into a dreamless sleep and Katrina laid her on the makeshift bed Sirius had put together for her. As she pulled the thin blankets over her child, she whispered,

"What do we do now?"

"What do we do? We wait."

"Wait for what?"

"You know what."

"You know who."

"Yeah." Sirius smiled bleakly at her, and she smiled back. He could see it in her eyes that she missed him already. But she had only been away from him for two days. 'But then again,' he thought, 'That's how Lily was when she had Harry and James had to go away.' He chuckled silently to himself as he remembered the look on Lily's face when James told her he was going away for a week. How she had been scared. But when you looked back on it, maybe she had every right to be scared. Sirius wouldn't know. No one had ever wanted to love him. And looking at himself now, no one ever would. 'If only I was as strong as Katrina,' he thought to himself.

Albus Dumbledore sat in his chair, twiddling his thumbs. So Professor Trelawney's first prediction was coming true. History was repeating itself. So was the same fate to be retold upon the innocent lives of Harry and Katrina? Would he allow it? The pensive look upon his face said it all, to speak the facts. But he knew he would have to do it. Their destiny was their destiny, and as much as he wanted to, Albus had not the power to change fate. So he sent them into hiding. The fidelius charm, performed upon Neville - this, obviously, the reason he was put into Gryffindor, house of bravery. Albus trusted he would not do the same thing as Peter...Peter had always had a bad streak in him. And anyway, Neville loved his parents too much to even think of turning to the dark lord's whims. But would the dark lord's whims turn him?

Lily's screams echoed round the house. Harry woke up with a start...but then he realized the screams were not of pain, but of discomfort. He stumbled out of the room and down the corridor to silence the baby before it woke Katrina up - she was exhausted already. Some tired walks round the nursery later, Harry finally got Lily to sleep and placed her back in the cot. He sighed, and fell asleep on the rocking chair next to the sleeping baby, not even managing to get back to his room.

Katrina woke up, thankfully not quickly as she usually did. She got up and began to dress, not worrying that Harry wasn't in bed where he should have been. She had fallen asleep on that rocking chair a few times too. Pulling on a sky blue polo neck top and black trousers, she went through to Lily's room to discover the baby awake and giggling, and Harry dead to the world (asleep, I mean) on the chair. She put a finger to her lips as if to silence the baby, and jumped a little when Lily responded by quietening her giggles. Katrina knelt down next to the rocking chair and kissed Harry softly on the lips. Keeping her face close to his, she whispered to him,

"Wake up, sleepyhead." He woke up, grinned, and kissed her. Lily began to giggle and clap her hands again. They broke from the kiss and Katrina picked Lily up. "Let's take you downstairs and get some breakfast, angel." Harry stood up, rubbing his bleary eyes and went to the bedroom to get dressed. Katrina walked down the steps and through the door to the kitchen. She placed Lily in the high chair and went to the cupboard to get out her bottle. Katrina had just begun to feed the baby when Harry came down.

"Here, let me do that..." Harry offered to help, and walked over to the high chair.

"No, you were up all night, honey, let me do it..."

"Excuse me? Honey? I don't even like honey!"

"Would you rather I called you Potty?"

"Would you like me to call you Snapie?"

"You know, I called Snape that once."

"Eugh!" Katrina laughed and walked over to the sink to wash the bottle as the last drop of milk got sucked into the vacuum of Lily's mouth - she drank so much, Harry liked to call it the black hole.

"We have Ron, Hermione, Sirius and Snape coming over this evening, remember, Harry." Katrina called over the running tap. "What are we going to do about Sirius and Snape?" She turned the tap off and sat down at the table with Harry as Lily played with a mini-broomstick (it didn't work, of course).

"I'm not sure...give them both the leg locker curse?"

"And silencing charm!" Katrina laughed, and Harry took another sip of his drink.

"No, siriusly...I mean seriously! We need to sort it out."

"I suppose, actually, we don't really have to do anything - it's their problem they don't like each other."

"Kat, Sirius nearly killed him."

"Yeah. Then Snape stopped Sirius from being freed..." Harry looked at Katrina, and they sighed. Tonight was going to be hard to cope with, but it was the only visit they'd get from them for months...maybe even for a year if Voldemort was spotted again. Fawkes flew in through the window with a package, and dropped it on Harry's plate (luckily empty). Harry gave Fawkes a little food, then began to open the package as Fawkes flew over to where Hedwig and Willow were perched. Harry gulped, and passed Katrina the Daily Prophet. She read the title, and gulped, just like Harry had done. It read:

**You-know-who strikes again**

**_23 killed in night attack_**

**_ _**

The dark lord has struck again - last night he, and a group of death eaters, killed 5 wizards (two of them aurors) and 18 muggles in an unprovoked attack. One of the wizards killed was Alastor Moody, known as Mad-eye Moody. Moody was found with a note pinned to his cloak, which read: _"We're coming for you, Katrina. Coming for you and your baby. She's very powerful, you know. Remember, you're my daughter - I can find you whenever I want." Katrina Snape (Riddle) graduated from Hogwarts just over a year ago, and her whereabouts are currently unknown. The other wizards killed in this incident were...._

Katrina ripped the paper. She ripped it into tiny pieces and threw it on the floor. She rested her head in her hands and her body was racked with dry sobs. Harry walked round and held her in his arms. He held her tighter as tears threatened his eyes, and began to recite the words of a muggle song he had heard on the radio when he was at the Dursley's once.

" Look into my eyes - you will see

What you mean to me

Search your heart - search your soul

And when you find me there you'll search no more

Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for

You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for

You know it's true

Everything I do - I do it for you." Katrina stopped sobbing and fell silent in Harry's grasp. "I love you."

"I love you too, Harry"

Albus sat in his desk again. Two months. Then Lily would be one. On her first birthday...he didn't want to think about it. It was on that day, seventeen - nearly eighteen years ago that Lily and James were killed, leaving Harry alive. So Katrina and Harry had two months left to live. Albus rose and walked over to the door. He opened it, but it didn't open onto the stairs...he wasn't flustered, of course, things like this happened all the time...but something seemed special about this candlelit corridor. He walked down the corridor and came across a scratching in the wall, reading the letters LE & JP 4 Ever. Albus smiled. Then he took out his wand, and with a flick another set of letters was scratched in the brickwork. KR & HP 4 Ever. Albus turned and walked back into the office, closing the door behind him.

Katrina picked up the letter bearing the Hogwarts crest, and opened it. A silver whistle fell out. Katrina picked up the letter. It read:

Dear Harry and Katrina,

Due to the unfortunate circumstances, your friends and relatives will not be able to go to your house this evening. However, if you wish, there is a whistle enclosed that will enable you to call Fawkes at any time and send letters using him.

Albus Dumbledore

Katrina passed the letter to Harry, then got up and went over to Fawkes.

"Go back to Dumbledore now. We will call you soon." The phoenix spread it's wings, pecked Katrina on the ear and flew out of the open window. Katrina went over to Lily and picked her up. She span Lily round, and Lily giggled uncontrollably, then burped suddenly. The two girls laughed. Harry got up and wrapped his arms around Katrina from behind, and pulled a face at his daughter. "Ignore your father, Lily, he's got too much of Sirius in him!" Katrina took Lily through to the lounge and put her in the playpen. Lily waved her arms madly as she saw all the bright colored toys. Katrina grinned and went back into the kitchen, where Harry was waiting. He was staring at her, in an odd sort of way; his eyes transfixed upon her face..."Harry?" Harry walked over to Katrina, and took something out of his pocket. He hid it behind his back so Katrina couldn't see. He took a step closer to her, his chest nearly pressing against hers.

"Katrina, I love you very much..." He took the box from behind his back and opened it to reveal a ring made of white gold, with one sapphire sparkling in the center. "Will you marry me?" Katrina put her hands around Harry's and looked into his shining emerald eyes.

"I'd be stupid if I said no." She smiled at him, and he smiled back, a smile of happiness she had never smiled before, and she had never seen him smile before...Harry took the ring out of the box and put it onto Katrina's ring finger. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Lily sat in her pen, watching her parents kiss and smiling, a gurgling sound coming from her throat. It wasn't laughter, or crying, it was sheer happiness. After all, her mummy and daddy looked happy right now.

_Two months later_

Katrina closed her book (Lost Footsteps, by Bel Mooney, a muggle author) and got out of the chair. She went over to the settee, where Harry was sleeping, and brushed his hair out of his face with one hand. She sat down softly on the edge of the settee, and stroked his face. She watched his chest rise and fall and remembered the first time she saw him. Of course, he had sat there and gawped at her. Not because she was pretty or anything, but because she was Snape's daughter. Foster, of course, but Harry didn't know that then. Katrina sighed. In one week it would be Lily's birthday. One year since she had run away was gone; one year since she gave birth and delivered her daughter was approaching. Not long after that, one year since she had ran into Sirius...and found Harry. Katrina got up and walked upstairs to the study. She took out her diary, and wrote in it.

_Dearest Lily,_

_ _

_This will be my gift to you, dear child, from a mother to her daughter. I want you to have this with you, so you can learn from it, and be who you want to be. You have power, my angel, power beyond any belief. You are related to three of the great founders, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, and, I'm sad to say, Salazar Slytherin. Treasure this power, do not fear it, but use it wisely. I hope you have as wonderful a life as mine has turned out to be._

_ _

_Katrina Anne Potter_

_ _

_PS: Beware of anyone with the name 'Malfoy'._

_ _

Katrina placed the diary in the box of things she had for Lily, and closed it. Then she walked out of the study, closing the door shut behind her. But she turned back and went into the study again, to write letters to Hermione, Ron, Sirius, Dumbledore, Snape and her mother.

_Dear Ron,_

_ _

_Hope everything's going well at the Burrow, Harry and I are looking after Lily at all hours of the morning (and night, occasionally), as usual. How are things with Ginny? Look forward to seeing you again,_

_ _

_Much love,_

_ _

_Katrina_

_ _

_PS: Send my love to your family_

_ _

_---_

_ _

_Dear Hermione_

_ _

_Guess what? Harry's sleeping. Lucky thing, wish I could sleep! But no, I've got to sort the bedroom....oh, I love him really. How is your study going? I hear you passed your masters and are going for majors. If only I could have majored in Transfiguration...anyway, I should stop my babbling.Hope everything's well with you. Send my love to Remus, Sirius, Dumbledore...anyone else you might see._

_ _

_Much love,_

_ _

_Katrina Anne Potter (Don't you just love the surname?)_

_ _

_---_

_ _

_Dear Sirius,_

_ _

_In answer to your letter, yes, I am treating Harry right, and no, I'm not being rough with him. Would I? (An innocent smile goes there...I take it you're not associated with them unless they're alibis?) Anyway, how are you? Do you still keep my picture under your pillow? You find out some weird things from living with people, you know. Like the fact that Harry snores when he has a cold. Did James do that? I think it's hereditary...or maybe he got it from you. You snore like a pig, by the way. No offense to pigs. Hope to see you soon._

_ _

_Much love,_

_ _

_Katrina Anne Potter_

_ _

_---_

_ _

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_ _

_I hope you are well. Harry is currently asleep on the settee, bombed out from looking after Lily. She still ceases to amaze me, in how much she looks like a cross between Harry's mother and Professor Snape. Do you see what I mean, from the photos I sent you? Anyway, I'm babbling. Thank you very much for letting us use Fawkes, he's been a world of help. Thanks also for your present for Lily, which I'm sure she shall enjoy very much...when she's older. Send my love to all the teachers at Hogwarts._

_ _

_Much love,_

_ _

_Katrina Anne Potter_

_ _

_---_

_ _

_Dear Professor Snape/Father_

_ _

_Hi, it's me again. How are you? We're fine here. Somehow this house seems like a home now, it didn't before. It doesn't seem like a prison to me, or somewhere I'm destined to stay for the rest of my life. And hopefully, that's not true. Got any horrible classes this year? I seem to remember there's another Weasley coming to you for first year - Charlie's son, right? Wonder if he's as obsessed with dragons as his father. Anyway, I ought to go now, Harry'll be waking up any second. Poor thing, he's been watching Lily for about four nights. I'd better do it tonight._

_ _

_Much love,_

_ _

_Your daughter,_

_ _

_Katrina Anne Potter_

_ _

_---_

_ _

_Dear Mum,_

_ _

_How are you? Lily and Harry are sleeping, so I thought I'd take the time to write you this note. I'm reading a book at the moment about a woman called Ana who has a son called Ion. She sends him out of her country (Romania) to save him from the political war sweeping muggle Romania. It's incredibly touching - and I began to wonder whether this is the kind of love that saved Harry from Voldemort. Yes, it's rubbed off on me; even I'm saying his name now. Voldemort. My sworn enemy, blood relative and father. I hate to say that. Father. I've never really called anyone father before. Sorry, I'm babbling. Hope to talk to you soon,_

_ _

_Much love,_

_ _

_Katrina Anne Potter_

_ _

_---_

_ _

Katrina blew the whistle for Fawkes, and waited. Surely enough, in a few minutes Fawkes soared in through the open window. She tied the bundle of notes to the Phoenix' leg, and watched it fly away into the setting sun. Then she went downstairs to wake Harry. She shook his shoulder, carefully, and he looked at her, nodded, and went into the kitchen. Katrina picked Lily up, careful not to wake her, and carried her upstairs. Then there was a crash.

_'Lily, take Harry and go! It's Him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off -'_

"Kat, take Lily and go! It's Him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off -'

_The sounds of someone stumbling from a room..._

Katrina stumbled out of the room with Lily in her arms, and ran down the corridor.

_A door bursting open..._

Harry ran into the hall just in time to see the body of Voldemort blow it's way through the door.

_A cackle of high-pitched laughter..._

Voldemort threw his head back and brayed a long, high laugh that penetrated Harry right through to the bone. Katrina screamed as her arm burned, slight wisps of smoke coming from her smoldering shirt.

_Voldemort muttered the fatal words..._

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry yelled out in pain as the green blast smashed him against the wall. He fell to the ground with a thud and whispered his last words...

"I love you, Katrina..." and then he fell...fell into the icy blackness that was - death itself.

_He let out another high-pitched cackle, and stepped over of the body of his life long foe._

_"Come to me, girl."_

"Come to me, daughter." Katrina, pulling her wand from her pocket, walked to the top of the stairs. She strode to the middle step and placed her daughter, tears welling in her eyes, behind her. Voldemort eyed the child, and then his daughter.

"She is beautiful," his cold voice rasped as Katrina's arm burned, the dark mark visible where it had baked away her shirt. "As is her mother."

"How dare you..." Katrina whispered, fire welling up in her eyes.

_"That child will be the death of me, Lily. I'm going to stop that..."_

"You assaulted my mother, killed my husband, and now you want to kill me?"

"Well. That's what's going to happen...right?" Katrina glared at her father...this killer, this madman, this...

"Crucio!" A bright jet of green light shot from Katrina's wand. She watched her father writhe in agony, tears pouring down her cheeks and her hand shaking from the force of the curse. She lifted it. "What do you think of your daughter now?" She cackled, and stepped further down the stairs. The dark power in her began to cease all rational thought. Only one thing went through her mind - kill. "I'm going to do something I should have done a long, long time ago..." She pointed her wand to her father's chest. He was still writhing in pain, despite the lift of the curse.

"Silly girl..." he rasped. "You wouldn't have the heart to kill your father...your dear father..." Ministry officials began to apperate into the front garden - among them, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. They were within earshot of the house when Katrina spoke again.

"You're not my father, Riddle." She glared at him. Snape's muscles tightened - he too suffered the pain of the dark mark. But it wasn't just that...

"Then who is, dark angel?" She stepped closer to the man in front of her, her wand tip now touching his chest. _Say me, say me! _Snape thought as his daughter opened her mouth to speak.

"My father is Severus Snape, be it by law or otherwise. And for him, I shall do this." She took a breath and felt her power build up inside her. Snape's arm stopped burning. "Avada Kedavra." The frail body of Voldemort was flung against the wall, where it slammed and fell to the ground. "You may be the dark lord...but inside you're still mortal, like all of us." Albus Dumbledore apperated next to the worried parents. "And all mortals...die." The dark mark faded from every death eater's arm as the dark lord's soul ebbed into infinity. There was silence. Katrina stepped back. She looked at her arm - no mark. It had worked. She looked down and saw Harry's still body on the floor. Kneeling next to it, she kissed his forehead, and brushed his hair out of his eyes. Then she went over and picked up her wailing daughter, whom she silenced with a finger her lips. Katrina looked up and saw Snape walk into the house. She gave him the baby. "Look after my daughter for me." He stepped into the house further, looked at her, confused, then yelled as she pointed her wand to her chest.

"Katrina Riddle, don't you dare..." She dropped her wand to the floor and looked at Harry. Then she heard a voice from behind her.

"He'd want you to live, you know." She span around and gasped as she saw a ghost...Lily Potter's ghost? "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump." The woman laughed.

"L...Lily?" Snape choked. Lily's ghost looked from him to the baby, which he was handing back to Katrina.

"The one and only, Severus." Albus Dumbledore closely watched the proceedings. Smiling, hopefully. He didn't have the power to change fate...but the dead do. Lily turned to address Katrina. "You're wondering what happened to your friend Neville, aren't you." Katrina nodded. "He was tortured by Voldemort - the cruticus curse. Then the veritas curse (that's the curse form of veritaserum) got the information."

"Did he make it?"

"No." Katrina gulped, and choked back tears. That was when she realized. She could save them all, by living. She was the only one, apart from Lily, with the power to overcome the death eaters. She had to live. For Harry, for Neville, for James and Lily...she would live.

"Thank you...mum." Katrina whispered to Lily, as her image faded away.

"No...thank you." Katrina began to cry again as the ghost disappeared. She turned round and looked at Harry. Then from Harry, to her father. She kissed Harry's cheek, and kicked her father's skull.

"And that," she said, addressing the deceased, "Is what I think of you two." She turned to her father and Dumbledore, and spoke. "If you pardon the expression, let's go kick those death eating bastards into hell...and beyond. Not you of course...father." She smiled at Snape, and he smiled back. Katrina took one last look at Harry, and summoned her belongings. "Come on Lily..." she said. "Let's go to Hogwarts."

Finis, the end, kaput, goodbye, &c &c. Many thanks to all my reviewers who supported me all through always and forever. I'm sort of proud of this sequel - once again, however, it's a little rushed, but I thought it would go over the length I was aiming for if I wrote in the two months between Harry & Katrina's engagement and Harry & Voldemort's death. A million thanks go out to my amazing beta readers, Heather (Azira) and Sylvia (Riddle). Thanks to Cassandra Claire for the veritas curse, thanks to The Terrible Trio for more inspiration, FanFiction.net for having a wonderful service like this, thanks to Flourish for her fantastic column, 5 Snitches, all my reviewers again, including anyone who's reviewed any of my works...I think that's it! Love to anyone I've missed, sorry!

Hoping you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it,

-Beki


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